Electronic gaming machines (EGMs), or gaming devices, provide a variety of wagering games such as, for example, and without limitation, slot games, video poker games, video blackjack games, roulette games, video bingo games, keno games, and other types of games that are frequently offered at casinos and other locations. Play on EGMs typically involves a player establishing a credit balance by inserting or otherwise submitting money and placing a monetary wager (deducted from the credit balance) on one or more outcomes of an instance, or play, of a primary game, sometimes referred to as a base game. In many games, a player may qualify for secondary games or bonus rounds by attaining a certain winning combination or other triggering event in the base game. Secondary games provide an opportunity to win additional game instances, credits, awards, jackpots, progressives, etc. Awards form any winning outcomes are typically added back to the credit balance and can be provided to the player upon completion of a gaming session or when the player wants to “cash out.”
Slot games are often displayed to the player in the form of various symbols arranged in a row-by-column grid, or “matrix.” Specific matching combinations of symbols along predetermined paths, or paylines, drawn through the matrix indicate the outcome of the game. The display typically highlights winning combinations and outcomes for ready identification by the player. Matching combinations and their corresponding awards are usually shown in a “pay-table” that is available to the player for reference. Often, the player may vary his/her wager to included differing numbers of paylines and/or the amount bet on each line. By varying the wager, the player may sometimes alter the frequency or number of winning combinations, the frequency or number of secondary games, and/or the amount awarded.
Typical games use a random number generator (RNG) to randomly determine the outcome of each game. The game is designed to return a certain percentage of the amount wagered back to the player, referred to as return to player (RTP), over the course of many plays or instances of the game. The RTP and randomness of the RNG are fundamental to ensuring the fairness of the games and are therefore highly regulated. The RNG may be used to randomly determine the outcome of a game and symbols may then be selected that correspond to that outcome. Alternatively, the RNG may be used to randomly select the symbols whose resulting combinations determine the outcome. Notably, some games may include an element of skill on the part of the player and are therefore not entirely random.
EGMs are commonly secured against unauthorized entry by one or more locking mechanisms, such as, for example, one or more mechanical locks that engage and secure one or more access doors on a cabinet of the EGMs. Traditionally, casinos have employed cylindrical or barrel locks for this purpose. For instance, many casinos depend upon a barrel lock coupled between an EGM cabinet and an access door to prevent unauthorized entry into the EGM. Thus, traditional locking mechanisms are purely mechanical and cannot be electronically actuated. In addition, there are many hundreds or thousands of types of barrel locks in use across casinos world-wide and casinos are typically reluctant to swap these locks for new or upgraded locking mechanisms, particularly as their employees and technicians would also require replacement keys, etc.
Improvements to electronic gaming machine cabinet locking mechanisms are, however, desirable. For example, locking mechanisms that do not include a requirement of physical contact between a lock and an access door are desirable. In addition, locking mechanisms capable of electronic and/or computer control are desirable. Further, a universal locking mechanism, such as a universal switch assembly, that can be swapped into an existing gaming machine cabinet and used with an existing barrel lock and key combination is desirable.